(3. Oktober 2003) “We know that most of our soldiers know how to use a game pad,” said Michael Macedonia, chief scientist at the Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation in Orlando, Fla. “Every kid figures out the controls pretty fast.”

For years, the U.S. armed forces have used big, sophisticated simulators with hydraulics, wall-sized video screens and realistic cockpits. But such gear costs millions of dollars — far too pricey even by military standards to be widely available.

And that’s why video games make sense.